The dominant woman in a leather dress with a stack and a whip in her hand. Bdsm outfit. (Photo by Getty Images)

Throughout the course of the long war in Afghanistan, Coalition troops have relied on thousands of military working dogs to help keep them safe, and make their jobs easier. The dogs are trained to detect explosives, to find illegal drugs, to search for missing comrades, or target enemy combatants. Not only are they active on the front lines, but behind the lines they serve as therapy dogs, service dogs, and loyal companions. They also share the same risks as the ground troops, suffering injuries and sometimes death on the battlefields. Gathered here are images of these dogs and their handlers in Afghanistan and back home, from over the past several years, part of the ongoing series here on Afghanistan.

Only the most intrepid urban explorers cross the tattered ruins of the old Iron Curtain to endure the excessive bureaucracy, military paranoia and freezing winds of the East to hunt for the ghosts of an empire. Rebecca Litchfield is one who couldn’t resist the haunting allure of the ruins of the Soviet Union.

A woman jumps with balloons while she poses for a picture at a park in Kiev, Ukraine May 6, 2018. (Photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

A lizard is seen hunting for fish during the daytime on May 04, 2017 in West Sumatra, Indonesia. (Photo by Riau Images/Barcroft Images)

A store mannequin with a protective mask stands before a clothes store as they open for the first time since March during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on April 22, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. Small to midsized-shops are opening across Germany this week as state authorities follow a recommendation by the federal government to ease restrictions imposed in March meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Some schools are also planning to reopen soon, as are museums and hair salons in coming weeks. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

This picture taken on May 4, 2020 shows gentoo penguins chasing krill during feeding time in their enclosure at the Ocean Park theme park, which is currently closed due to the COVID-19 novel coronavirus, in Hong Kong. Save for an absence of gawping crowds, life for the penguins of Hong Kong's Ocean Park has been much the same during the coronavirus pandemic – but their carers have worked long shifts to keep the monochrome troupe healthy. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)

Alaa Shabat lives with her six children in a tent erected inside the Austrian cemetery in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on November 13, 2025, after her husband became ill and unable to work. (Photo by Tariq Mohammad/APAImages/Rex Features/Shutterstock)